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Baseball Tonight

Baseball Tonight is a Sports Emmy Award-winning program that airs on ESPN, and is the only nightly highlight show devoted to Major League Baseball. The show, which recapitulates the day's Major League Baseball action, has been on the air since 1990.

Air times

Baseball Tonight usually appears nightly on ESPN throughout the baseball season at 10:00 p.m. ET and 12:00 a.m. ET (the show may air on ESPN2 when there are conflicts with college football or the NBA). Following the cancellation of The Trifecta in late 2006, the 12:00 a.m. run of Baseball Tonight was expanded to a full 40 minutes. The show has permission from Major League Baseball to show in-progress highlights. The show is also seen at 12:30 p.m. ET and 7:00 p.m. ET on Sundays, the later show leading up to the Sunday Night Baseball telecast. The late-night edition on Sundays is usually just a re-air of the 7:00 show, with a SportsCenter anchor providing highlights of the Sunday night game in place of a game preview segment that airs during the live broadcast. The midnight edition usually re-airs at 12:00 p.m. ET the following day (excluding Saturday, when the show is usually a full-hour in length).

Live, on-location episodes

The show also appears live at events throughout the year, such as spring training, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game and the World Series sites, and occasionally has remote stunts, i.e. shows from rooftops at Fenway Park and Wrigley Field in 2005.

History

In 2000, the segment "Web Gems" was coined and created by then-producer Judson Burch. The segment originally featured great defensive plays followed by viewer internet voting on the "web." The phrase "web gem" is now common vernacular in baseball broadcasts and circles to describe outstanding glove-work.

In 2002, the home run segment "Going, Going, Gone", complete with the immensely popular "screaming baseball" animation was replaced with a tamer segment "Touch 'Em All" sans screaming baseball.

Beginning with the 2005 season, Baseball Tonight has been broadcast in high-definition on ESPNHD from the opposite side of the studio used for Sunday NFL Countdown, NBA Shows and College Football Scoreboard shows, albeit with a baseball demonstration field laid on top of the NFL floor. Airing begins in March during spring training and ends after the World Series in October.

In 2006, Baseball Tonight introduced new graphics. The opening sequence features players on baseball cards moving and a ball going from one to another via a throw or off a bat. A much longer variation of this is also used to open ESPN's live game broadcasts. The theme music also was updated from the normal orchestral treatment to a livelier rock vamp.

In 2007, a new segment entitled "Thats Nasty!" was introduced. The new segment featured top pitching performances of the day, including the best individual pitches. These clips often include extremely high velocity fastballs, 12 - 6 curveballs, or change-ups that completely fool the opposing batters. Prior to the 2007 All-Star Game, a modified version of the opening sequence was used which featured various San Francisco landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge.

In 2008, they replaced Roger Clemens with Josh Beckett in the baseball card opening sequence.

Logo history

Personalities

Baseball Tonight often features the following people:

Current personalities

Chris Singleton >

Position	Name	Tenure	Notes
Hosts	Chris Berman	1990-present	hosts on select Sunday nights
	Steve Berthiaume	2004-2005 and 2007-present	various nights
	Karl Ravech	1996-present	John Kruk reported he signed an extension in 2006
	Dari Nowkhah	2008-present	weekday fill-in
	Scott Reiss	2006, 2008-present	weekday fill-in
Analysts	Orestes Destrade	2005-present	signed a multi-year extension with ESPN on March 6, 2007. Often appears on Friday and Saturday shows.
	Orel Hershiser	2006-present
	John Kruk	2004-present	lead analyst since 2004
	Eduardo Perez	2007-present
	Steve Phillips	2005-present	signed a five-year extension with ESPN in June 2006.
	Chris Singleton	2008-present
	Fernando Viña	2007-present
	Eric Young	2007-present
	Buck Showalter	2001-2002, 2008-present
2008-present		Reporters	Peter Gammons	1990-present	signed a three-year extension with ESPN on March 6, 2007.
Tim Kurkjian	1998-present
Buster Olney	2003-present
Jayson Stark	2000-present
Correspondents	Pedro Gomez	2004-present	has covered San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds and his home run record
Correspondents	Bob Holtzman	2004-present

- Indicates part of lead team.

Former personalities

Position	Name	Tenure	Notes
Hosts	Rich Eisen	1996-2002	Now lead host for NFL Network
	Brian Kenny	2003	Now hosts SportsCenter; formerly hosted The Hot List on ESPNEWS from 2003-2006
	Dave Marash	1990
	Gary Miller	1990-1995
	Chris Myers	1991-1995	Now reporter for FOX Sports
Analysts	Dusty Baker	2007	Now manager of the Cincinnati Reds
	Larry Bowa	2005	Now third base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers
	Jeff Brantley	2002-2006	Now analyst for the Cincinnati Reds on television and radio
	Dave Campbell	1990-2004	Now lead game analyst on ESPN Radio
	Rob Dibble	1998-2004	Now hosts show on XM Radio with Kevin Kennedy
	Ray Knight	1998-2003	Now pregame analyst for the Washington Nationals on MASN
	Mike Macfarlane	1999
	Tino Martinez	2006
	Brian McRae	2000-2005
	Harold Reynolds	1996-2006	Now commentator on MLB.com
	Bill Robinson	1990-1991
	Rick Sutcliffe	2002-2003	Now analyst on Monday Night Baseball
	Bobby Valentine	2003	Now manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan's Pacific League

- Indicates formerly part of lead team.

Featured segments

Baseball Tonight is split into a number of segments, each of which focuses on a particular aspect of baseball. These segments include:

3 up, 3 down: 3 players/teams each that are either on the uprise or downside of their seasons or careers (in the case of players).
Analysis: a more in-depth look at baseball topics, players, and upcoming games.
Chatter Up: This segment is new for the 2007 season, in which fans get to submit their thoughts on certain subjects via ESPN.com and then they are shown at the bottom of the screen and discussed on the show.
Diamond Cutters: Airs on the Sunday edition, a montage of the week's best plays set to music.
Extra Bases: a more in-depth look at a particular game after the highlights have aired.
Highlights: the most important happenings from the days' Major League Baseball, occasionally also featuring other baseball competitions such as the World Baseball Classic, the College World Series, Minor League Baseball, or the Little League World Series. Virtually every MLB game is shown at least once, more if there are in-progress highlights to report on.
Inside Pitch: This segment usually features Peter Gammons giving his insight on the latest news and rumors from around baseball.
Leading Off: usually the first segment of the show, giving the day's most significant baseball news, for example, trades, injury updates and hirings and firings of managers.
Kurk Gems: Tim Kurkjian gives unusual stats from the world of baseball.
Most Important Thing: Analysts' comments on the most important story from the day's happenings in MLB. This is usually the final segment of the show.
On The Phone: a live phone interview with an MLB player, coach, or general manager, usually regarding the most recent game played and outlooks on the future of the team.
Out of the Box: This segment is similar to Leading Off, where they preview what is coming up on the show.
Stat of the Night: an interesting baseball statistic from the day's happenings in MLB.
That's Nasty: New in 2007, a segment showing the best pitches, usually with the most movement, of the night.
Touch 'Em All: significant home runs of the day.
Smash of the Night: The most significant home run of the day. Usually the longest or biggest scorer like a "Grand Slam."
Web Gems: the day's five best defensive plays. On Sundays, the best defensive plays of the entire week air. On July 1, 2007, the day's ten best defensive plays were shown; there were too many for that day. Prior to the 2007 All-Star Game, the season's 10 worst defensive plays were featured in a similar segment.
Greatest Home Runs: begun as a temporary segment in honor of Barry Bonds's ascension to the all-time MLB home run champion. Featured the greatest five home runs in the history of a different franchise every day for the duration of the segment; on August 26th (the final day of the segment), the Top 10 Home Runs of All-Time were featured.

One featured running gag on the show is the spoof segment "Name That Molina", where one of the personalities has to guess which of the three Molina catcher brothers – Bengie, Jose, or Yadier – is being shown.